Approximation of the Cell Under Test in Sliding Window Detection Processes

TL;DR

This paper critically examines the common approximation of the cell under test in sliding window detection processes, demonstrating its invalidity in modern maritime radar contexts and impacting detector development.

Contribution

It challenges the assumption that the cell under test can be approximated by the clutter distribution, providing evidence of its invalidity in maritime radar applications.

Findings

The approximation is invalid in modern maritime radar scenarios.

This invalidity affects the development of Neyman-Pearson detectors.

The paper emphasizes the need for more accurate models in detection processes.

Abstract

Analysis of sliding window detection detection processes requires careful consideration of the cell under test, which is an amplitude squared measurement of the signal plus clutter in the complex domain. Some authors have suggested that there is sufficient merit in the approximation of the cell under test by a distributional model similar to that assumed for the clutter distribution. Under such an assumption, the development of Neyman-Pearson detectors is facilitated. The purpose of the current paper is to demonstrate, in a modern maritime surveillance radar context, that such an approximation is invalid.